This article tells how civil legal aid lawyers are helping former sex trafficking victims erase their criminal history.
News Story (New York)
New York Times (NYT)
March 23, 2015
Link to story
Tags: Benefits of Legal Aid, Expungement / Record Sealing, Pro Bono, Women
Organizations mentioned/involved: Sex Workers Project, Urban Justice Center (UJC) (New York City), Legal Aid Society (New York City)
News Story (New York)
New York Times (NYT)
March 23, 2015
Link to story
Tags: Benefits of Legal Aid, Expungement / Record Sealing, Pro Bono, Women
Organizations mentioned/involved: Sex Workers Project, Urban Justice Center (UJC) (New York City), Legal Aid Society (New York City)
DETAILS
The law, passed in 2010, allows convictions related to sexual trafficking to be removed from a person’s record. New York had the first such law in the country and today 18 other states have adopted similar statutes.
“If certain prostitution arrests arose directly from trafficking, the court must vacate the charges,” said Melissa Broudo, a lawyer with the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center. “The case is over. It’s a recognition that they should not have been convicted in the first place.”
More than 60 women with prostitution convictions have had their records cleared in New York.